Having recently cut back her hours teaching at Cornwall College due to Piece of Cake being busier than ever, Suzie examines why it’s important to delegate your workload…
Last summer I took my marketing agency, Piece of Cake Communications, on as the sole director and owner. As well as running the business, for the past four and a half years I’ve also taught the professional marketing qualifications – CIM – at Cornwall College. Life has been busy.
Having taken Piece of Cake in a new direction last summer, I’ve seen it grow beyond my wildest dreams. But with that came additional work and the realisation that I’m going to need to delegate more of work to my trusted team.
It can be hard when you run a small business to hand over responsibility to others, especially when it’s meant re-doing work that I’m not happy with to present to a client! But I’ve now got a solid team around me of regular freelance writers and a permanent designer and marketing exec who can manage accounts when needed.
I concentrate now on doing the work that I excel at, whilst delegating research, design and other duties to my team. Along the way, I’ve learnt the importance of delegating, so here are some of my tips…
Delegate your day to day admin:
I’ve often been heard to say I could do with a PA for my personal life, but they’re even more important for your business life. Sarah Brandwood at Hidden Thought offers personal assistant support, business support, miscellaneous support (that might include holiday let management and more) and lifestyle management – which may mean managing home projects for you and more.
“My aim is to take the pressure of the daily tasks to allow people to concentrate on what they’re good at,” says Sarah.
Delegate your marketing:
You decided to run your business because it’s something you’re good at… but that doesn’t mean you’ve the time or inclination to market it effectively. Are you even confident that you’re doing it as well as you could be? Or are you doing what you think you should be – such as running a Facebook page or advertising in a local mag, because you feel you ought to?
At Piece of Cake I take the pressure of marketing off businesses, to allow them to do the things they’re good at. I often say, I wouldn’t walk into a shop, buy some scissors and profess to being a hairdresser. It may be tempting to think ‘have laptop, can market’ but learning the skills of social media management, PR, email marketing and more, is an acquired skill. Let the experts take care of it for you.
Delegate your accounting:
You could do your books and your accounting yourself, but it’s another added pressure – especially at the time of year that the tax return looms. Having an accountant, or agency, that can manage this for you can offer piece of mind and confidence that you’ve done it correctly. They can often save you money as well!
Drop me a message if you’d like a recommendation for an accountant as several come along to the networking group I run in Falmouth – Connect.
Delegate your childcare:
This was a big one for me, as a working parent I’d never previously put my children into after school or breakfast clubs. I felt I was self-employed and therefore should be able to manage my workload to be there at drop offs and pick-ups. I realise now that this was an unrealistic expectation I’d put on myself!
My daughter now goes to an after-school football club and my son goes to the school run wrap around care. They both love it, and I get more time to work a full working day!
Delegating is not an easy thing to do – I personally have always found it difficult. But when you weigh up the benefits, it’s always worth it.
Drop me a line if you think I can help in any way.
Piece of Cake Communications 